This page is meant to collect thoughts and ideas leading to a new OpenOffice.org incubator project. The project will be dedicated to branding and corporate design for OpenOffice.org, including the creation of OpenOffice.org related artwork as well as ensuring a common look-and-feel among the product, website, marketing material and any other place(s) referring to OpenOffice.org.

The project's working title is (until anybody comes up with a better name) ...

Design, Artwork and Branding Project

Main directive

This project wants to establish and maintain a consistent and unique visual identity for OpenOffice.org - both the product and the community.

Recognition of a brand is essential: People knowing OOo will tell about it, if they recognize it in unexpected surroundings, they are more likely to spread the word. Therefore it is crucial to give them a consistent visual impression of OpenOffice.org.

Recognition of one branding element opens the way to the user's associations - having much more impact than the symbol itself.

Why do we need this project?

Different branding elements used at the product, on our website and as references to the project and the program

Up to now, several people in different projects decide about the visual design in their area. This has led to a very inconsistent visual impression of OpenOffice.org across the product (e.g., icons, splash screen), website, documentation, marketing and other areas.

Branding elements from OOo2 are mixed up with OOo3 splash screen elements inside the product, in documentation and marketing materials. Our website has got it's own style, unrelated to the other graphical design elements (and even this style is not used on all the native-lang websites).

Find people from all these projects interested in working together on design and branding topics as representatives of their projects. They will serve as contact persons in both directions: From their projects to the new branding/art project and from the new project back to the other projects.

Look at artwork projects within other well known open source software and see if we can gain additional insights or ideas

Proposal and creation of the new project

A decision on what will happen to the Art project - it may be preferable to integrate it into the new project

After establishing the new project

Determine the general goals for visual design.

Revise present artwork and design elements if they would serve for a general branding design.

Define the goals of OOo quite clearly (perhaps run a survey among the community on that topic) and have a look at any of the present graphical elements with regards to it's relation to this goals and it's usability for our general branding. Keeping in mind the recognition value of these elements (this might be part of such a survey too), we then have to decide, if they should be part of the new branding identity, if they have to be updated or recreated from the scratch.

Define a general visual design and branding style.

Next activities

Create a style guide describing the visual design to be followed by every artist working on artwork to represent OpenOffice.org.

According to this style all necessary artwork has to be created.

Spread this artwork to all the projects involved in branding and visual design (see above).

Establish this style all the places where OpenOffice.org is represented by visual means.

Provide an area for artwork development, even if it doesn't follow the branding style. This artwork will not be allowed to be used for references to the product and our project, but may serve other goals:

It can become a basis for future branding elements.

Artists can keep their own style and creativity.

It reduces the hurdles for new members to start.

Involve areas not yet in the focus of visual design. Ivan already collected some ideas.

Continuous work

Re-evaluate iteratively the visual goals of OpenOffice.org.

Have members from the project on i-Teams in relevant/applicable areas

Decide about possible design updates with major product changes.

Have measurable goals for each release cycle of OOo - i.e., a roadmap - to provide clear directions for the community so that more of its artwork can be included in and throughout the project

Keep the artwork, the places where it is used and the style guide up-to-date.